Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>]

Karl,

> The word XMC comes form a root with the meaning of
"soured", used as a verb not only for food, but
also refers to a person's soured outlook in life.

I would rather describe the root meaning as "stressed, constrained," but for
the present case the difference is not essential.

> For bread, it refers to the sourdough way of making
bread. From the same root we have XMWC soured, XMYC
fodder that has fermented while stored in a silo,
XMC leavened (bread) also vinegar.

No doubt about that. The question is, why does the tradition assume that xmc
in Ex12:15 relates specifically to bread? You surely know that Pesach ritual
even prescribes four glasses of wine, though plain reading of xmc in Ex12:15
prohibits all sour products, including wine (cf. Num6:3).

Vadim Cherny



If I remember correctly, nothing with yeast was
acceptable for temple worship. I'll have to double
check, but I think that is the case.

The general word for "bread" is LXM from the root
referring to feeding.

Karl W. Randolph.

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>
>
> In Ex12:15, hametz is generally understood as leavened bread.
> Numb6:3, however, declares wine hometz.
> Positive commandment of eatring the unleavened bread in Ex12:15
> favor the restricted meaning of hametz as leavened bread. Ex15:11
> requires haste, and implies absence of wine, thus suggesting
> expanded meaning of hametz.
>
> What are the grammatical arguments of reading hametz as "leavened
> bread," rather than "leavened thing," including wine?
>
> Another question, is there any etymological reason to read mazot as
> "bread"? The reasoning "pressed, compressed, stiffled" bread seems
> very forced. Wouldn't it make more sense to read mazot as "whatever
> could be found"? That reading is logical - eat every thing you can
> find after you remove the leavened things - and corresponds to the
> root cell meaning of mz and to the sense of mzh as "stiffled," here
> - stiffled circumstances.
>
> Vadim Cherny

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